


The Family in the Center of the Ring

by ILoveStarWarsAndK_pop, MusicHeart08



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Abuse, Aerial Silk, Alternate Universe - Circus, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Circus Family, Dark Magic, Hurt Ezra Bridger, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by The Owl House (Cartoon), Multi, Parental Hera Syndulla, Parental Kanan Jarrus, Performance Art, Physical Abuse, Psychic Abilities, Sabine Wren Needs a Hug, Space Siblings, Space family, Tightrope Walking, protective Zeb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26600635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveStarWarsAndK_pop/pseuds/ILoveStarWarsAndK_pop, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicHeart08/pseuds/MusicHeart08
Summary: The Carnival of Misfits is a Circus filled with music, bright lights, and a group of misfits unlike anything ever seen in the galaxy.However, beyond all the bright lights, and circus entertainments, there is a family within the Circus Ring.A darkness growing within the circus, disguised by entertainment and false smiles.It just takes one person to find out.Co-Author: ILoveStarWarsAndK_pop
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. The New Act

**Author's Note:**

> Au created by me and ILoveStarWarsAndK-pop where The Ghost Crew is a family of circus performers.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, ILoveStarWarsAndK-pop had a lot of great ideas for this story.
> 
> Without her, this story would not have been possible.

Hidden away in the corners of the world, a large festive carnival stood. The lights of the area stood out against the bright setting sun.

The traveling and infamous Carnival of Misfits. Home to the most talented freaks in all the world.

Inside the large red and white tent, the circus performers were practicing for their next performance.

* * *

Hera Syndulla closed her eyes and carefully inhaled a deep breath.

It wasn’t the height of the pole she was standing on that was giving her anxiety or the vast length between the two poles either.

It was an early memory of when she had started walking on a tightwire.

The balance pole in her hands suddenly felt heavier.

Many years had passed since that fateful day. She had perfected the act, and performed the trick successfully dozens, even thousands of times. Yet, she always grew nervous before she took the first step.

After taking another deep breath, Hera straightened her back. Her emerald eyes looked out with determination at the wire in front of her.

Clutching the pole tighter in her grip, Hera gently took her first step onto the thin wire. The wire shifted beneath her weight before settling back into place.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Sabine Wren was looking over the colorful materials spread in front of her. Empty paint bombs, mixing cups she had used countless times in the past, and well, paint.

She began mixing an array of colors in one of the cups, pouring more into another, then repeating the same action. She sighed, mixing and filling the bombs up, just so they could be used for entertainment for about a minute before she set off another.

It was a long, laborious process that took many delicacies but she was used to it. One wrong move and _boom!_

The young girl never worried, though, she'd done this for years... but everyone has their fears.

Sabine always got anxiety performing this act in particular, and she knew exactly why.

_Once, not too long ago, the poor soul had miscalculated the placement of one of her many bombs. She pressed the button, suddenly, Sabine heard a loud ringing and was thrown to the floor by the powerful force of the explosion._

_The performer hit the ground with a hard thud, but she wouldn't know, she didn't hear it. Sabine winced in pain, when she opened her eyes, there were two of everything._

_Cupping her palm against her ear, she felt blood dripping from the side of her face. Gasping, she attempted to retreat backstage, due to her current vision, she didn't get far._

_Sabine collapsed once more, this time with additional pain to it. From the distance, she could see a green figure running towards her, it was Hera._

_The woman got Sabine on her feet and helped her backstage, there she heard a muffled voice yell at them. The yelling was the last thing she could remember before she had passed out._

Sabine shook her head and pushed the painful memory of the incident into the back of her mind before continuing.

Finally, seated on the bleacher away from the others practicing their act, Zeb was cursing under his breath as Kanan treated a fresh wound on his arm.

“It's gonna take longer if you keep moving,” Kanan said, holding a wet rag over Zebs muscled arm, where a bright red gash could be seen on the Lasats' forearm.

“Just hurry up,” Zeb growled through his gritted teeth as he clenched his fists. Wincing every time the medicine touched his injury.

Kanan rolled his eyes before continuing trying to disinfect his friend's wound. “Stop cursing and I will,”

“I’m not cur- Karabast!” Zeb growled as the disinfecting ointment stung his open wound.

The lasats cries took Sabine and Heras’ attention away from their practicing.

As Sabine began putting away her equipment, Hera skillfully leaped off of the highwire towards the large net below.

A straining sound came from the rope net as the Twi'lek landed heavily on it, and the thin balancing pole landed on the ground with a dull thump.

Hera carefully crossed the net, her eyes focused on her friends. As soon as the woman reached the edge of the net, she leaped to the ground.

Once the woman was back on solid ground, a small orange, brown and white cat jumped from the bleachers and raced towards her.

Hera knelt down and gently cradled the cat in her arms.

Hera and Sabine stood near the two men, sympathy for their injured friend. They hated it when he got hurt like this, they hated it.

"How are you feeling?" Hera asked, regarding his pain.

"I'll live," Zeb growled lowly, not looking anyone in the eyes.

Sabine lowered her head, that's what he always said.

After a few minutes, Kanan had finished tying the bright white bandage around Zebs' arm. "Just... try to take it easy for a while, Zeb," the man said, patting his friends' shoulder.

"Yeah, sure," the Lasat scoffed, tucking his arm against his chest as if trying to hide his injuries from the others.

A heavy silence filled the air. Almost suffocating.

"Since Ringmaster is gone..." Kanan began slowly, looking at the others with determination, "Should we use this time to our advantage?" 

The four performers exchanged looks, concluding the decision with a mutual nod. Zeb and Kanan both stepped off of the bleacher to join the others on the ground.

"So it's decided then," 

The group quickly huddled together and talked in low hushed voices. Every few seconds, one of them would glance around for anyone who might be eavesdropping of them.

"Then, Sabine places bombs around the tent," Hera explained, to which the mentioned teenager nodded in approval, "And afterward, Kanan gets the-"

The Twi'lek woman's voice suddenly trailed away and her eyes grew wide as another voice suddenly spoke up.

"Why aren't you all practicing?"

All of the performers turned around to see Thrawn, the ringmaster of the circus. His blood-red eyes piercing as he looked at all the performers.

Hera held Chopper closer to her body. Sabine crossed her arms across her chest in a self-comforting position and turned her gaze away. Zeb shifted his position so he stood between Thrawn and the others while Kanan crossed his hands behind his back and looked Thrawn straight in his eyes.

“We didn’t mean to get distracted,” Kanan said, firmly, “We were only-“

The man was cut off when Thrawn dismissively waved his hand.

“It doesn’t matter now,”

Shock washed over the group in an instant. Never had the Ringmaster treated their mistakes so… casually. There was not a trace of anger in his voice or eyes.

“It doesn’t?” Hera asked, carefully.

“No, not today,” There was a hint of amusement in the ringmasters' tone

“I want you all to prepare yourselves for tonight. We will have a new performer joining us,”

The group looked amongst themselves, confusion and concern were exchanged between the four of them.

“A new performer?” Zeb repeated in question.

Thrawn settled his gaze on the Lasat, “Yes.”

Sabine was hesitant to speak, “When will we get to met this new performer?” 

The Ringmaster turned away from the bleachers, “Soon, very soon. But the newest addition to our circus needs some...mental preparation before your meeting, and let’s not forget motivation.”

They all looked down, each knowing very well what _“Mental preparation”_ meant.

Thrawn snapped back to face them, “No more of this slacking off. I advise you all to get to your dressing rooms to prepare and make it quick, the next show starts in an hour.”

His harsh tone of voice caused everyone to jump, they all quickly raced away from the tent towards the back cot where dressing rooms awaited.

As the moon rose high in the night sky, the Tent for the Carnival of Misfits was lit up like a Christmas tree. Making the brightest star in the sky seem dull.

The bright colors and music of the circus drew aliens and humans of all ages to the tent.

Families and individuals looking for a thrill lined up outside the circus. People from all over the country who were excited to see the misfits of the FreakShow.

Inside the auditorium, the bleachers were packed top to bottom as the audience raced to their seats. Aimless chatter could be heard throughout the air.

Suddenly, the lights of the tent began to flicker.

_“Whoa!”_

The audience was stunned to silence and many rushed to their seats as the show began to start.

_“Whoa!”_

As the light continued to flicker, the audience could barely make out four figures rushing from the shadows towards the center of the ring.

Just then, the lights turned off, leaving the tent in darkness.

_“Whoa!”_

Finally, after a few seconds later. A single spotlight appeared, shining on the center of the ring, where Kanan stood.

_“Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for!”_

_“Whoa!”_

The light flicked once again, before focusing on Kanan once again.

_“Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor,”_

Kanan suddenly extended his hand towards his right, a cane suddenly appeared from the darkness and flew straight into his hands.

_“Whoa!”_

The audience began stomping and clapping along to the song.

_“And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore!”_

From out of the shadows, tamers began walking with their animals into the ring. Kanan walked throughout the ring, passing every performer in their positions with a nod, that being the signal to get to their places. _“Taking your breath, stealing your mind, and all that was real is left behind...”_

Chopper the Tooka was one of them. He leaped onto Hera’s shoulder as Kanan continued, _“Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya. It's only this moment, don't care what comes after,”_ She nodded back at Kanan, and began climbing up to the tightrope with Chopper. 

_“Your fever dream, can't you see it getting closer. Just surrender 'cause you feel the feeling taking over!”_ Sabine grabbed some explosives from her belt and placed them around the ring quickly, the performance was building up.

Kanan suddenly tossed his cane into the air, the wood stick spun around as it floated higher and higher. The light reflecting off the wood.

Hera got to the top with Chopper, Sabine finished spreading her bombs. and Zeb was about to be brought out.

As the cane landed back in the mans’ hand, more rays of spotlight appeared around the man before circling around the audience.

_“It's fire, it's freedom, it's flooding open!”_

Kanan then began marching back towards the center of the ring circle. The spotlight following him.

_“It's a preacher in the pulpit and you'll find devotion,”_

All around him the noises of animals and people moving could be heard.

_“There's something breaking at the brick of every wall, it's holding all that you know!”_

_“So tell me do you wanna go?”_

Kanan threw his arms into the air, at the same time explosions erupted from around the circle. From each eruption, different colored smoke filled the air.

_“Where it's covered in all the colored lights! Where the runaways are running the night!”_

A spotlight suddenly shifted and pointed towards the air.

The audience followed and saw Hera standing gracefully on a tight wire. Chopper was standing just a few inches behind her, balancing on his four paws.

_“Impossible comes true, it's taking over you,”_

Sabine suddenly dashed towards the center of the ring where another bomb awaited.

Just as she reached the center, a miracle exploded from just behind her. The smoke and paint swirled around and formed a purple/pink Phoenix behind her.

_“Oh, this is the greatest show!”_

Sabine and Kanan spun around through the bright lights and colors, ending the turn by extending their opposite arms out as he sang, _“We light it up, we won’t come down!”_ Hera and Sabine joined, _“And the sun can't stop us now!”_

The diamonds of Hera’s costume began reflecting light throughout the tent, causing rainbows to appear as she twirled and performed tricks on the wire, _“Watching it come true, it's taking over you!”_

_“Oh, this is the greatest show!”_

Suddenly the spotlights turned to the side along with the performers _”Woah!”_

 _“Colossal we come, these renegades in the ring!”_ the lights stopped turning to reveal Zeb holding up three chairs with one arm. The crowd gave a shared gasp, some began shouting cheers. 

_“Woah!"_

The animals were let loose by their tamers and began jumping through hoops and rings, colored spotlights in the tent circling everywhere, blending with the mist of Sabine’s newly exploded smoke bombs, _“Where the lost get found in the crown of the circus king!”_

The music began getting louder and began building up, so were they. Sabine placed her biggest miracles around the ring, throwing them around the tent like candy as Hera put her hands onto the wire and lifted her legs in a handstand with Chopper balancing on her feet, Zeb spinning the chairs and picking up an animal in the other arm, while Kanan lifted _“Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya, It's only this moment, don't care what comes after!”_

Sabine gently rolled three miracles across the ground until they stopped in front of Kanan. In response, the man closed his eyes and raised his hand over the miracles. In an instant, the three explosives floated into the air.

Lifting his arms into the air, Kanan lifted the miracles high into the air.

 _“It's blinding, outshining anything that you know._ _Just surrender 'cause you're calling and you wanna go!”_

In an explosion of green, pink, and blue smoke, a wolf was formed out of the mist.

_“Where it's covered in all the colored lights! Where the runaways are running the night!”_

Just then, from the shadows of the bleachers, a man appeared. A man with golden hair and hazel eyes focusing on one of the performers.

_“Impossible comes true, intoxicating you,”_

A silver ring attached to a wire was slowly lowered towards Hera. As soon as the ring was in front of her, Hera gently grasped the circular metal.

The woman skillfully pulled herself into the ring so she was sitting inside the ring as she was lowered to the ground. One hand holding onto the ring, the other cradling Chopper.

As the song began reaching its end, the main four performers quickly raced towards the center of the ring.

_“Oh, this is the greatest show!”_

The audience roared with applause as a standing ovation erupted through the air.

The tamers began leading all the animals backstage until only the four performers remained in the ring.

As the group waved to the audience, they looked at each other with happiness. The adrenaline of the performance was still rushing through their veins

Just then, the sound of someone approaching them and clapping from behind them caught the performers off guard as they turned around.

Thrawn was walking towards the center of the ring, clapping along with the audience. His face held no little emotion.

“Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen!” The Ringmaster shouted as the applause began to quiet down. Thrawn then held his hand out towards the performers, “Let’s give them another hand,”

Once again, the bleachers roared with cheers, shouts, and applause.

Kanan, Hera, Sabine, and Zeb all smiled and bowed before the audience.

However, their smiles did not match the ones when they were performing. Filled with enjoyment and the rush of their acts. Instead, their smiles were more strained and forced. Except for Zeb, who wore his usual stoic scowl.

After a few seconds, Thrawn turned towards the group, a slightly stern look in his eyes as he cocked his head towards the backstage.

Kanan nodded back at the Ringmaster before turning back towards the others. Everyone turned away from the audience and began walking towards the shadowy area where the entrance to the backstage was.

Thrawn turned his back towards them to face the audience again.

“And now, what you all have been waiting for!”

As soon as they had reached the entrance to the backstage, Kanan pulled the tent flap open for his friends to walk through. However, to his surprise, Hera was the only one behind him.

“Our newest addition to the Circus!”

Kanan and Hera quickly glanced around for their friends, only to find Sabine and Zeb walking behind the tall bleachers.

“What are you two doing?” Hera whispered-shouted after them. Checking to make sure Thrawn was still turned away.

“We want to see this new act,” Sabine responded quietly without turning around as she walked further into the shadows.

“You know we’re supposed to be backstage after every performance,” Kanan whispered-shouted, barely able to keep the stern tone out of his voice, “You’re both going to get yourself in trouble,”

At that moment, Zeb stopped in his tracks and turned back towards his friend.

“Only if we get caught,” The Lasat said with a smirk.

Before Kanan could respond, Zeb continued walking further into the darkness.

Just then, Chopper leaped out of Heras’ arms and raced after Sabine and Zeb.

Hera and Kanan looked at each other with concern. Until a smile crept onto the Twi’lek woman’s face.

“You know you’re curious too,” she shrugged before walking beneath the bleachers as well.

Kanan was about to protest but Hera had walked away before he could. Groaning, the man slapped his hand against his forehead.

It was true, he was curious.

“This is a bad idea,” Kanan muttered before trailing after his friends. 

The group continued walking until they had reached the darkest area. The shadows concealing them so they would not be spotted.

“Just one quick peek then we go straight backstage,”

No one responded as they all looked at the Ringmaster who was still introducing the New Act.

By this time, all the spotlight had dimmed away until only one remained on the Ringmaster. A cool fog had covered the circus ground.

“A mystical being found wandering through the plains of Lothal,”

Hushed whispers echoed across the walls as the audience grew anxious for the new act.

“Look, over there!” Sabine suddenly whispered, pointing towards the backstage area.

Everyone followed her point and saw a lone figure standing apart from the audience. A short figure dressed in a long dark cloak, the hood concealed his face.

In his hands, he held a small circular bottle, filled with a strange golden substance. As if someone had managed to trap a drop of sunlight.

The hooded figure swiftly popped the cap off the bottle and drank the substance in two or three heavy chugs.

“What was that?” Hera whispered to Kanan, curiously, “Some kind of potion? A spell?”

“Nothing good,” the man replied

After tossing the empty bottle away, the figure slowly crossed through the mist on the ground towards Thrawn.

“A creature unlike anything you’ve ever seen,”

A second spotlight shined upon the new performer until he stood directly behind the ringmaster.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you…”

Thrawn spun around, a hand gesturing to the cloak-wearing figure behind him.

_“The Beast of Lothal!”_

The figure took that as his cue as he reached up to grasp his hood.

The audience and the four performers watched in anticipation as the figure lowered his hood and revealed...

“It’s… a kid?” Kanan gasped in disbelief.

A teenage boy with dark blue hair and eyes was revealed to be the figure beneath the cloak. The boy looked around at everyone in the audience. Confusion and slight fear in his electric eyes.

After a few seconds, a wave of boos, sneers, and shouts erupted from the audience.

Unimpressed by the _“Beast”_ they had been promised.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Thrawn reassured the crowd before turning to the teenager.

“Show us what you can do, _boy,”_ a coldness seeped into Thrawn's voice upon his last word.

At the sound of his cold voice, the boy flinched slightly before nodding at the ringmaster.

Closing his eyes, he knelt down to the ground on his hands and knees. The large cloak around his body engulfed him and hid him away from the peering crowd.

“What is he doing?” Zeb whispered as everyone watched anxiously.

From beneath the heavy cloak, the boys’ body began twitching violently. A low growl could barely be heard from him.

Gasps and whispers spread through the audience as the boys’ withering body appeared to be growing larger and larger.

“What the-” Sabine gasped before Hera quietly shushed her.

A smirk stretched across Thrawn's’ face as he watched the boys’ transformation come to an end.

Gasps and whispers echoed across the tent as everyone in _(and under)_ the bleachers stared in shock.

In the spot where the boy had once stood, a giant Loth-Wolf had taken his place.

The Loth-Wolf had soft light grey fur and piercing blue eyes. The cloak the once-boy had been wearing slowly fell off the back of the wolf, as it no longer fit his body.

“Who is that kid?” Kanan muttered to himself.


	2. Behind the Curtains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ILoveStarWarsAndK_pop made this chapter amazing.

Suddenly, the young man transformed back into a human, a wave of reactions overtook the crowd, some shouting, some yelling, including Sabine. She didn't mean to yell, It just came out, she'd never seen anything like what had just happened.

Less than a second later after the yell escaped the girl's lips, Kanan's hand flew over her mouth. The group stayed quiet, they could see confused audience members standing up, trying to look through the bleachers to see who shouted beneath them.

Thrawn saw this, turned his head towards the hidden performers, and looked straight at them, causing everyone to gasp.

The young boy's performance ended and the show was over, the audience left.

"Guys, we didn't get caught, okay, it's going to be fine," Hera reassured, Kanan joined in to help Sabine and Zeb relax, "Yeah, he probably didn't even see us."

The crew had all gathered in Hera's dressing room after getting spotted by Thrawn. They hoped with all their hearts that they didn't, but they all wouldn't admit the fact that they did. Now they were all sitting in the small trailer, talking it over.

Sabine shook her head in denial, "No, no, no, he saw us! He saw everyone, looked straight at us!"

Hera and Kanan knew that what Sabine was saying was true, but their parent like personalities couldn't help but at least try to calm them down, "Sweetheart it's going to be okay, I'm sure he won't punish us, and if he does, It most likely won't be that bad."

Zeb looked back up at them, "You think so?" Kanan rested a hand on his shoulder, "Of course," he replied, thought deep inside, he had no idea of what was to come next.

Meanwhile, outside the trailer, Ezra and the Ringmaster walked through the circus lot, "You've done satisfactory on your first day of the job. I've ought to punish you for that performance, but fortunate for you I have someone else to discipline at the moment, now off to backstage you go! That's where you'll be spending the nights until I can get you a dressing room."

Thrawn began to walk without him, after taking a couple of steps he paused and turned his head, "One more thing," the Chiss added, throwing a bottle at Ezra.

The baffled teenager fumbled with the bottle before securing it in his trembling hands completely. "Don't forget to take this tonight, wouldn't want you damaging any of my property, give it back at sunrise, and don't think I won't notice if you don't," the Ringmaster turned his head slightly to make eye contact. His violently red eyes piercing through Ezra's soft ocean ones, "I will notice."

And with that, the man walked away, "Their own dressing rooms, how greedy," he mumbled angrily.

The four performers were still peacefully talking things out in Hera's trailer when, all of a sudden, the door slammed open, everyone gasped, then remained silent.

"Which one of you abominations yelled under the bleachers?! I ordered you to go backstage!"

Everyone looked down, not saying a word, Sabine knew it was her who yelled, but she couldn't help but stay silent, her head hanging low, hoping he would just leave.

Looking at Thrawn's belt, Hera noticed a whip, she then gazed at Sabine, the girl held her head in her hands, anyone could easily tell she was frustrated at herself. She knew the young girl couldn't take getting punished at the moment. So, she decided to make an executive decision.

Standing up from her seat, Hera slowly walked up to Thrawn, the rest of the crew's heads lifting at the unexpected movement.

"It was I, Ringmaster." The Twi'lek stated in a low, apologetic like voice.

"Hera no..." Sabine protested in a whisper,

The mentioned woman looked back at Sabine, giving her a small smile, "I'll be alright," her eyes told.

Kanan was about to object, but Zeb grabbed his collar and tugged him back down into his seat, shaking his head silently and sadly.

"Well then," Thrawn stated, "If your dramatic scene here is all wrapped up in a nice little bow, then everyone except the tail-head needs to leave, now! We must attend to this matter privately, now go!"

The rest of the crew hesitantly left the dressing room, Sabine stayed at the doorway for a moment, regretting that she didn’t say anything.

Hera cocked her head forward, signaling for her to leave...before things got ugly. Kanan gently took Sabine's hand, almost dragged her away, and they all went backstage.

The silence was suffocating as the three remaining performers forced themselves away from the trailer lot towards the backstage arena.

Kanan didn’t need to read Sabines’ thoughts to know she wanted to go back. He wanted to as well

But, he also knew the consequences would be grave for all of them if they did.

Instead, Kanan held her hand tighter to reassure her, and him as well.

However, the gesture didn’t work.

As the group finally made it backstage, Sabine pulled her hand away.

“I gotta tell hIm truth,” she said, desperation in her voice, “I can still stop this,”

Just as the teenager started walking back towards the trailer lot, Kanan gently grabbed her shoulders and held her back.

“It won’t help,” the man said sadly, “If you tell him the truth, he’ll just punish her for lying to him,”

Sabine's face fell with despair, sadness filled her eyes as she knew Kanan was right.

“But, she doesn’t deserve it,"

“Doesn’t mean that _you_ do,”

Sabine still looked unsure, however, just before she could say anything else.

“Uh, guys,” Zeb called out, “We’re not alone here,”

Sabine and Kanan quickly looked over to where the Lasat meant.

Standing in front of the cages, was Ezra.

The young boy was looking inside the animal cages. Watching the creatures as they slept on a small pile of hay, large collars around their necks.

In his ocean blue eyes, Ezra looked at the creatures with sadness and sympathy.

“Hey!”

Sabine’s voice broke the boy from his thoughts, he turned towards the others with surprise. Not realizing that they had entered.

“You’re the new guy, right?”

The boy didn’t say anything as he just looked at the group, speechless.

Kanan could tell that the boy was afraid, not that he blamed him, so he stepped forward as well.

“I’m Kanan, this is Sabine and Zeb,” The man introduced, trying to calm the boy down.

“What’s your name?” Sabine asked.

The boy didn’t say anything, as he wrapped himself further into his cloak.

By looking into his eyes, Kanan could tell it wasn’t because he was cold. Fear was radiating off the boy, vibrating against the psychics' mind.

Zeb growled impatiently and stepped closer to the teenager. 

“Hey, you ignoring us, or are you deaf?”

When the boy didn’t say anything again, Zeb brought his hands together and clapped loudly.

The noise caused Ezra to flinch back. Hitting the back of his head against the cage bars.

“Zeb, leave him alone,” Kanan demanded, pulling his friend back by his shoulder.

"Maybe we should just leave him be," Sabine whispered to Kanan and Zeb, feeling more of the same feeling Kanan was. The man nodded, and the lasat grunted an agreement.

They quietly walked to another part of the backstage area, seeing this, the boy went back to petting the animals.

Suddenly, Thrawn stomped into the room with a swaying Hera in front of him. Her face held a dull and exhausted expression upon it. The woman was covered in blood, bruises, and scars all over, tear marks on her cheeks, she could barely stand, better yet walk. He must have forced her.

The rest of the group had worried and shocked faces as they saw what he'd done to her.

Especially Ezra.

Ezra was just about traumatized. He'd only seen Hera once, and now she was drenched in her own blood. At that moment, he realized the capabilities of his Ringmaster’s power and punishment.

With a cruel and light push, Hera collapsed onto the hard wooden floor, letting out a low cry. 

"Hera!" Kanan shouted as he, Zeb, and Sabine rushed to her side.

Thrawn glanced down at them, unmoved, and left.

Hera let out another cry, Kanan got some bacta patches from Zeb and took her hand in his. "It's okay darling, we're going to fix you up, just breathe and keep your eyes open for us, alright."

She hummed/whimpered in agreement, and the group got to work. Ezra couldn't stop looking in shock. Without him meaning for her to, Hera noticed, she looked back at him with a sympathetic expression, "Don't worry, he isn't always like this...AGH KANAN!" Her sudden outburst of pain caused Ezra to jump.

Kanan tried to talk to her in the calmest of tones, "Dear, I'm awfully sorry, but we need to disinfect your wounds, if not, they'll get infected."

Hera gazed at him, "Okay," she confirmed breathlessly.

Sabine’s head hung with guilt, ‘this is all my fault,’ she couldn’t help but think, “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Hera turned her head towards the girl, “Sabine, I did this for you on my own, no need to apologize,”

Sabine shook her head, “Yes, but you got punished for something you didn’t even do, It should have been me...” 

Hera gave her a reassuring look, “I’m...fine, alright. Please don’t worry, you know I’d go through fire and ice for this family,” she winced. 

Out of nowhere, Thrawn entered backstage once more, looking down at the group, Zeb shielded Hera from him, still angry at the ringmaster for hurting his friend. “No need to get defensive, beast. I’m done teaching her a lesson. Finish treating her, then get back to your dressing rooms immediately. Or you’re next. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ringmaster.”

“Good,” the Chiss stated, leaving for the last time.

Once he was gone, they all sighed, “I can’t believe I let this happen to you...” Kanan spoke in a sorrowful whisper. Hera cupped one of his cheeks in her hand, “It’s fine dear.” 

Zeb finished wrapping a bacta patch strip around her leg, “All done. You should be good by tomorrow,”

Kanan scoped Hera up in his arms and began walking, “I’ll have to be,” she mumbled.

Ezra watched silently as Sabine and Zeb followed Kanan as he walked out with Hera. They got to her dressing room and he laid her down on her bed, “You’re sure you don’t want me to sleep here tonight?” he asked, “I can keep an eye on you in case anything happens.” 

As much as Hera would’ve loved to spend the night with Kanan, she made herself kindly decline, she wouldn’t know what to do if they got caught and he got punished too.

“I’m sure, thank you though.”

He felt a little down that she didn’t want him to spend the night with her, but he understood where she was coming from through her thoughts, so he left it at that.

“Alright darling, well, have a good night. If you need anything, I’ll sense it, so don’t get up, I’ll come to you okay?” 

She nodded. He placed a kiss on her forehead, they all said “good night,” and went to their separate dressing rooms.

Meanwhile, alone in the backstage area, Ezra stood alone, still in shock over what he had just witnessed.

Just then, the boy jumped at the feeling of a firm hand grabbing his shoulder. Turning his head, Ezra saw Thrawn standing behind him.

“Now that is out of the way, I can show you your new living quarters,”

Ezra remained silent as he obediently followed Thrawn away from the backstage area. As the two walked by the animal's cages, every creature fell quiet at the sight of the ringmaster.

The trailer lot was empty and dark. A few lanterns strung between the trailers kept the lot in light.

Thrawn led the timid boy to the last trailer, opening the door and letting Ezra step inside.

It was a simple mobile home, there was a small seating area, a dressing area, a small kitchen, and a bedroom concealed behind a curtain. The windows of the trailer had been sealed shut.

Just as Thrawn was about to leave, a small voice spoke up.

“Why did you do that to her?” Ezra asked timidly, speaking for the first time all day.

“Excuse me?”

“Hera,” Ezra cleared his throat and raised his voice? “What did she- I mean, she seemed nice,”

Thrawn's stance appeared impatient as he stepped into the trailer in front of the boy. Ezra backed up a few steps.

“She had stepped out of line, I simply had to show her the consequences of her actions,”

“By beating her half to death?”

“I don’t have to explain my methods to you,” Thrawn replied, anger dripping in his words.

“But-“

Thrawn slammed the trailer door shut with a loud. The noise made Ezra jump in surprise

“It would be best for you to learn how to hold your tongue before you lose it,” Thrawn growled before he smirked coldly, “Unless you want me to go back on my promise,”

Ezra’s eyes widened with fear. The boy snapped his jaw and shook his head. 

“Good boy,” the ringmaster then patted the boy's head, as if he was a dog.

Ezra's jaw tightened in anger but he did as told, and held his tongue. After all, what choice did he have?

“Now, get some rest for tomorrow’s show,”

As soon as the door closed, Ezra sunk to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself.


	3. The Creature In The Circus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to our third chapter!! Sorry it took awhile 😂 this is out longest chapter yet, and we had so much fun with it! This chapter is spooky and creepy because we wanted to share it as our Holloween chapter! MusicHeart08 really made this one come to life, without her, I don't know what I'd do, happy Holloween!! Muhahaha!!  
> (This chapter is also inspired by the Owl House episode "The Intruder.")

It was a somewhat peaceful day around the circus. Thrawn was away once again at a “Very Important gathering,” though everyone knew he was just attending a rich person party where everyone drank and bragged about their latest accomplishments.

But just because their ringmaster wasn’t there, didn’t mean the crew got a break. They always had something to do, today's task, was simply placing sensor beacons around the circus grounds for the night to ensure no potential predators got in.

Each member of the crew was busy putting up their own set of beacons, Ezra didn't talk much, but he helped out.

Sabine and Zeb were chatting away, talking about the next town the circus was going to visit next, when they noticed the newest addition to their group seemed sluggish.

Kanan and Hera noticed this as well. Hera called the boy to her, "Are you alright dear? You look a little sick." Ezra was taken aback by the concern in her voice, he hadn't heard anyone talk to him like that since...his mother.

Scrambling for words, young Ezra managed to stutter, "Um, I guess I do feel a little tired..." Hera gave him a warm smile, "Why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off to rest, and we'll cover for you. Does that sound good?"

Ezra nodded his head shyly, "T-thank you." he said quietly, before walking to his dressing room.

Kanan stopped in the middle of placing a beacon in the ground as Ezra walked passed him.

A concerned look was on his face as he watched the boy slowly walk away. His movements were sluggish and slow.

“Something on your mind, love?”

Kanan was startled when he saw Hera looking at him with curiosity.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,”

The man tried to continue placing the beacon into the ground, but Hera kept looking at him with silent concern. Finally, the man sighed and gave up.

“You know that potion the kid drinks before every performance?” The man began.

“The one that makes him transform into animals?”

Kanan nodded before taking a deep breath, “I think it’s making him sick.”

Sabine and Zeb stopped in their conversation to listen in.

“I’m not an expert in the Dark Arts but I do know that taking that much potion everyday cannot be healthy.”

Hera nodded in agreement, “I know, and Ringmaster makes him drink one every day.”

“Well, he’s not here now,” Zeb suddenly chimed in, “He doesn’t have to take it anymore, right?”

“But I heard Ringmaster tell him to still take it before he left,” Sabine said.

“He could get addicted to that potion."

Hera spoke hesitantly, "Well if it's not good for him and he doesn't have to drink it right now...what if we...take it?"

Everyone turned to Hera, "Well, that isn't exactly a bad idea," Zeb pointed out. Kanan nodded in agreement.

"Won't he notice if one of us goes in there and takes it?" Sabine questioned, Hera turned to the teenager, "Not if you take it," "What?"

Zeb shrugged, "Yeah, he'll be asleep, all you gotta do is sneak in and grab it." Sabine began tapping her foot on the ground, thinking out loud. "I don't know...I guess I could use my lock picking kit to break in, but I don't even know where this potion thing is."

"I can help with that," Kanan chimed in, I'll use my powers to find it, and then I'll tell you where to go."

Sabine decided, "Okay, sounds good to me, as long as we keep this a secret."

The crew looked amongst themselves,

"A secret it is."

The crew designed a more efficient and detailed plan, and before they knew it, Sabine was in Ezra's dressing room. She strolled through curiously, _"Okay, tell me where to go,"_ Sabine thought.

From outside, Kanan could hear everything she was thinking. Communicating through his telekinesis, he shut his eyes and concentrated, a few seconds later, a full image of the room appeared into his mind.

_"Alright, I see it,"_ he told her, _"Go past the kitchen, and into his room." "What?!"_ Sabine pondered, _"Are you crazy?! He's going to freak out if he sees me!"_

_"I know,"_ Kanan replied, _"But we need to get the Elixir away from him, just...be quiet about it, and don't wake him up."_

Sabine rolled her eyes, _"Yea no kriff."_

_"I heard that!"_

She moved to the back of the trailer, where the boy's room was, and stopped in front of the door, _"So where in his room is it going to be?"_

Kanan focused for a second, _"It's inside the drawer of his bedside table. You'll have to be careful, though, I don't know if it makes noise when opened."_

_"Well, here goes nothing,"_ Sabine opened the door slowly, making sure not to make any noise, _"In the drawer..."_ She thought.

As Sabine got more into the cramped room, she noticed the young boy, covered in blankets, his body was spread across the little bed, fast asleep, _"He looks so small and comfy, kind of cute."_

Getting back on task, Sabine slipped open the drawer, which luckily didn't make a sound, and grabbed the boy's Elixir.

She let out a sigh of relief, _"Okay, I got the potion," "Good, now be careful as you walk out, wouldn't want you hitting yourself on something and waking him u-" "Ow!"_

Outside her mind, Sabine had stubbed her foot on his bed, causing a loud noise to erupt, she stood there, frozen, for a second, hoping he wouldn't awaken.

_"Sabine, are you okay?"_ Kanan frantically asked, _"Yeah, I'm fine,"_ She replied, _"He's rustling, what do I do?" "Get out if there!"_

Sabine practically ran out of the trailer, once she was outside again, Zeb started laughing, "You almost got caught, didn't you?"

"Almost," she specified teasingly, "But you know I'm to sneaky to get caught." Kanan joined in "That's why you hit yourself right?" he joked.

"I'm just glad we got that thing away from him," Hera added, "I don't want him to take it if he doesn't need to and then get sick."

“So,” Sabine said, looking down at the glowing elixir, “What do we do with it?”

Kanan looked at the potion as well, they had to get rid of it without Ezra or Thrawn realizing what they had done.

But there was no telling how dangerous the potion was, they had to do this carefully and...

Just then, a roar of thunder echoed across the darkening skies.

Everyone looked up towards the sky in time to see raindrops begin falling from the black sky.

“Karabast!” Zeb cried out, holding his arms above his head to shield himself from the sudden rain.

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow,” Kanan chuckled at his friend before turning to Sabine, “Just hold onto it. Right now, let’s all get some sleep.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Zeb said before rushing off to his trailer.

Sabine placed the Elixir in her pocket as she made her way to her dressing room.

Hera and Kanan took each other’s hand and walked off together.

A crack of thunder boomed above the circus area, the clouds joined together and coated the grounds in an endless darkness.

A few hours had passed since the crew went off to bed, the rain was pouring harder than before outside.

The low whistles of the wind blew across the tent flaps, almost sounding like a scream flying through the air.

Inside the psychic man's dressing room, Kanan and Hera were fast asleep together.

It was rare that the two got a chance to be together, but with Thrawn away, the two spent every second they had with each other.

Suddenly, a loud crash noise erupted from the outside the trailer lot.

Kanan snapped awake at the noise, confusion was written on the mans’ face. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, there was a clap of thunder and another louder crash.

More awake than before, Kanan began to sit up in bed, his loose hair draped over his shoulders.

“What is it?” Hera muttered, having been awoken by the noise as well.

“I think the rain knocked something down,” the man explained, pulling his hair back into his normal ponytail, “I better make sure nothing broken or the Ringmaster will have our heads.

“Want me to go with you?”

“No, you still need to heal, remember?”

It was true that Hera's body was still healing from her punishment, but the woman refused to let it get in the way. So her family had to assist her.

“I don’t like the idea of you going out there by yourself in this rain."

Kanan smirked, “I’ll just take Zeb with me.”

“You really wanna wake him up?” Hera said, raising her eyebrow, remembering the last time someone woke Zeb up in the middle of the night.

That worker barely made it out of his trailer alive.

“I could always go by myself.”

Hera chuckled and shook her head.

“Good luck.”

Kanan put on his raincoat and walked out of the trailer into the cold, heavy, rain. Entering Zeb’s dressing room in a hurry, the man walked to his friend’s bedroom.

“Hey Zeb,” Kanan said in a more orderly voice than welcoming, he wasn’t surprised the Lasat hadn’t been awakened buy the loud crash.

Kanan got next to Zeb’s bed and began shaking his arm briefly, “I know you don’t want to, but I need you to help me investigate what that crash was.”

Zeb stayed still.

Kanan rolled his eyes, “I’m going to take your waffles if you don’t,” he threatened. Zeb began to stir, “Over my dead body,” he mumbled.

“Then get up, come on lazy, let’s go," Kanan began walking towards the door.

Zeb sighed, "Ugh, fine, but you better not touch my waffles, or else."

Kanan chuckled, "I won't, I promise."

Zeb got his raincoat on and the men wandered around. “You brought flashlights, right?” Zeb asked “Yes,” “Good, cause I lost mine three months ago.”

Kanan shook his head and tossed Zeb a flashlight, he caught it, and they ventured into the rain.

As the two walked, another loud noise was heard, "That's not lightning..." Kanan commented.

Kanan began running to the source, "Come on! We have to see where that came from!" Zeb ran along with him, and again, the, what sounded like a banging noise, made itself heard.

Kanan and Zeb paused after running for awhile, unable to find what they were looking for.

They looked around, breathless, "Karablast, I think we lost it," Zeb panted. "Me too," Kanan replied, "I guess we'll have to keep looking."

Walking, now, the human and the Lasat searched throughout the circus grounds.

The longer they wandered, the harder it seemed to rain. All of a sudden, Zeb stopped walking, causing Kanan to do the same. "Wait, what are looking for, anyway?"

Kanan had to think for a moment, the hard rain splattering on his yellow raincoat make it difficult to Zeb to hear his answer, "I don't really know, I guess we should just keep an eye out for anything damaged by the wind, rain, or something else..."

Zeb laughed, "You say that like there's something else here! Calm down," Kanan turned his head and continued to walk forward, Zeb followed.

"Well, the noise Hera and I heard sounded more like a 'thud,' or, 'bang,' It didn't sound like something that would result from rain or wind."

Zeb was skeptical, so he began to tease Kanan, "What, you're scared there's a 'monster' or somethi-"

The two stopped dead in their tracks, before them laid one of the sensor beacons the performers had put up earlier, but there was one thing off about it...the beacon was shreaded in half.

The wind howled violently, the rain pouring down onto the shiny piece, now pieces, of metal that shot out electric sparks.

Moments after, a low roar shook the ground from beneath them.

Kanan and Zeb slowly turned on their heels towards the source of the sound.

A large tent where all the props and animals for performances were kept in.

“What was that?” The Lasat asked after a few seconds.

“My guess, a monster,” Kanan responded, regarding his friend's comment earlier.

Another low roar erupted from the tent, followed by a soft clank of something breaking.

“Whatever that thing is, we need to get it out of here before it breaks anything,” Kanan slowly bent down and picked up the bottom half of the broken beacon.

A staff to defend him with.

Slowly, the two men began walking towards the noise until they were just in front of the tent.

“Ready?” Zeb asked.

Holding the staff tighter in his hands, Kanan nodded.

The two quietly crept into the dark tent, to find what awaited them.

The lights inside of the tent were dimmed because of the weather. Every few seconds, a lightning flash would light up the tent. Casting large shadows across the room before darkness fled the tent once more.

Zeb's ears twitched around in the air, trying to hear anything that may have caused the roar.

As the two passed the animal cages, all the animals were huddled in the back of the cage. As if they had seen something that frightened them.

“How did it get through the barricade?” Zeb asked silently, “I thought this was designed to keep all kinds of creatures out?"

Kanan shrugged silently but he had a feeling that the beacon was already broken but was never replaced by the Ringmaster.

The rain thumped hard against the roof of the tent, echoing across the silent air of the night.

After a few agonizing minutes, the two reached the back of the tent, where the bleachers were folded up until their next performance.

Hidden away in the corner of the area was a large pile of hay for the animals to feast on.

A rustle sound came from beneath the large pile, along with a low hissing sound.

“Be ready for anything,” Kanan whispered, holding the broken beacon tighter in his hands.

There was another rustle as the hay was pushed around…. finally a creature bursted out from beneath the pile and leapt towards the two men.

A scream erupted from Kanan, a very high pitch and feminine scream.

Zeb turned to his friend with a confused, surprised, and amused expression.

“It’s just Chopper."

Looking down, Kanan saw a familiar orange and brown cat on the ground just in front of him.

Zeb growled down at the cat, to which Chopper hissed back up at him.

Chopper's small hiss echoed into a nearby bullhorn, causing the noise to become a loud roar.

Kanan sighed with relief, resting the staff over his shoulder.

“The beacon must have been knocked down by the rain or wind. Chopper was the noise Hera and I heard.”

“Great,” Zeb answered, unamused, “May I go back to sleep now?”

Kanan nodded tiredly, ready to return to Hera and peaceful sleep.

Just as they were about to step outside, Zeb noticed his friend had a confused expression upon his face.

“What now?” Zeb asked

“That noise Chopper made just now, it didn’t sound like what I heard earlier.”

“Oh, come on, mate. The storm probably made it seem lower than it really was. There’s nothing…”

Just then, a low growl filled the air.

Kanan and Zeb turned around to face Chopper.

To their surprise, the small cat was hissing at something just above their heads. Slowly, the two men followed his gaze.

A lightning flash lit up the room, revealing what Chopper was hissing at.

Perched on top of the bleachers was a giant Fyrnock, sharp black eyes stared down at the two men and cat.

The menacing Frynock with sharp claws suddenly leapt off the bleachers with a loud thud and let out an ear piercing roar, sending Kanan and Zeb across the tent, landing on their backs, Chopper running away in fear.

The creature then bolted out of the tent, hissing and growling as it ran farther and farther away.

"Agh," Zeb groaned, rubbing an ear, Kanan sat up, realizing something, he gasped, "It's headed toward the trailers! We have to go warn the rest!"

The men got up and quickly raced to the trailer lot, determined to save their friends.

When they got to the dressing rooms, the creature was nowhere to be seen, "Let's just hope that's a good thing," Kanan muttered. They hurriedly went to his trailer, where he and Hera had been sleeping, and woke the Twi'lek up.

"Mm... What's going on?" Hera mumbled, Kanan helped her out of bed, "I'm sorry to wake you darling, but we need to evacuate, a creature has broken through the barricade and is now running loose in the circus."

Her eyes widened, "What?!" "I know, we'll explain more later."

Hera got her flashlight along with her raincoat and the men got Hera out of the trailer and into Sabine's, trying to go as fast as they could without hurting the already injured woman. Once they were in, Kanan and Hera informed Sabine about the beast while Zeb kept an eye out for it.

With about the same reaction as Hera, Sabine grabbed her things, as well as some bombs along with the boy's elixir, and they rushed to the newest recruit's dressing room.

The crew ran inside the trailer to find it destroyed. Scratches trailed along the walls, the furniture was tossed around and flipped over, but most importantly, the boy was gone.

Sabine was at a loss of explanation, "What happened here..." Kanan glanced around the torn up dressing room, "Looks like that thing got here before we could."

Hera leaned onto a counter for support, she could stand, but it still caused her some discomfort. She took in deep breaths, trying not to think about the unimaginable, "There's not a body, so that could mean he's still out there. We need to find him."

"We will," Zeb reassured.

Kanan helped Hera out of the trailer while Sabine and Zeb exited themselves. As soon as everyone was out, Kanan suddenly got a feeling that something was wrong. "What is it, dear?" Hera asked worriedly, she could automatically tell whenever he felt a disturbance.

Kanan rested a hand on his forehead, something bad was about to occur, he knew it. If only he could pinpoint it...

Everyone paused as the physic shook his head, "I don't know, I feel..." All of a sudden, his eyes widened, "Watch out!" He yelled, pointing to the roof of the boy's trailer, where the horrifying black creature stood atop of, growling and frothing in frustration.

"Run!"

The crew darted away as the pitch black Frynock jumped down from the roof and began chasing after them.

Yells and shouts erupted from their throats as they ran through the cold and rainy night for their lives. Unexpectedly, the pain of Hera's injuries began to consume her as she ran.

The wounds in her legs pounded with agony as she ran heavily on the hard dirt that had become harder with the rain. Hera's whole vision became a blur, all of a sudden, the throbbing pain became too much, and she collapsed.

Before anyone could go after her, the beast towered over Hera, it's dark, beady eyes staring straight into hers.

The beast began to open it's terrifyingly wide mouth, saliva dripped from it's jagged teeth.

Hera attempted to back away, but her legs were too hurt and weak to get her anywhere, the creature lowered it's head until she could feel it's breath on her skin.

At this point, she was frozen in place as the creature came closer, and closer.

Suddenly, she let out a scream.

This caused the rest of the crew to turn around, "Hera!" Kanan yelled. They ran towards the beast as fast as they could. Sabine grabbed a bomb from her pocket and tossed it at the monster, it exploded, and the Frynock reacted with a very loud hiss. With that, the beast retreated into the darkness.

Sabine, Kanan, and Zeb immediately ran to Hera, "Darling are you okay?" Kanan asked, sitting her up. The injured Twi'lek nodded, anyone could tell she was trying to stay stiff.

Hera leaned in closer, needing his literal support desperately, "I just...ran to hard, I'll be fine."

Sabine and Zeb gave each other looks, "Are you sure Hera?" The younger woman asked, Zeb joined in, "You seem to be in a lot of pain."

Hera gazed down at the ground, "I just need to rest, that's all," Kanan felt concerned, "Well, we'll take you to a dressing room and have you rest on the bed while we figure out what to do, and when we're done, we'll see how you feel, okay?"

Hera agreed, Kanan scooped her up, and the crew went into Sabine's very colorful, and very decorated, dressing room.

With art all over the walls, including a drawing of the crew, joined by sketch books, paint, art supplies, and beautifully colored hanging lights, the trailer was truly fit and uniquely, Sabine.

The owner of the dressing room made way, and Kanan set Hera down on the bed. Sabine gave him some long bacta patches, and he wrapped them around Hera's somewhat bleeding legs.

"That should hold," Kanan informed calmly, Hera's expression caught his gaze, they were sad, along with a hint of confusion.

"Dear, what's wrong?" The woman's heart felt heavy, thinking about the ill young boy who was out in the pouring rain, desperately attempting to hide from the Frynock, she exhaled, "It's...the boy."

This statement grabbed Zeb and Sabine's close attention, "He's still out there..." The Lasat added.

Sabine nodded, focused on her thoughts of how they could fix the situation, "We need to go find him, he's sick, and most likely can't defend himself against the beast."

Kanan glanced around the room, everyone was intensely worried, so was he.

"What can we do to stop it?" He asked. Sabine, realizing the plan she made internally could potentially work, stepped forward,

"I may have an idea."

The crew exchanged looks, "Everyone know what they're doing?" Kanan asked. The rest nodded.

"Good, now let's get this thing out of here."

The performers walked out of the dressing room, Zeb and Hera headed to the tent, and Kanan and Sabine began looking for the Frynock.

As they walked through the still very rainy and chilly night, the two kept searching, only to find nothing. They were about to give up when Sabine pointed her flashlight at some stacked hovercrates, "What is it?" Kanan whispered.

The young girl held a finger to her lips, "I think It's behind that pile," she thought, though Kanan heard her loud and clear, he was intended to.

Kanan shut his eyes, focusing on the stack of hovercrates. Not long later, a full image of the crates along with everything around them appeared, and to no surprise, the Frynock was there.

"You continue to impress," Kanan replied.

They backed away from the crates, getting far enough so that Sabine's miracles didn't harm them. Sabine turned her head towards Kanan and smirked, "Should we go?" Kanan shook his head, "Not yet...now!"

With a very abrupt and swift move, Sabine threw a bomb behind the hovercrates. Suddenly, they exploded and the beast hissed loudly, running out from behind the crates and away from the light.

The humans nodded in simultaneously, and Sabine began throwing more bombs, aiming to chase it with light. “Come on you intruder!” she shouted, to which the Frynock growled at her.

Once they got far enough that the creature wouldn’t notice, Kanan started running after them, everything was going according to plan.

Sabine lead the beast into the circus tent, where Hera sat on her aerial act ring high in the air, holding her tightrope net. Sabine lured the Frynock to the center of the circus ring with some more bombs, and Hera dropped the net from above, ultimately trapping the creature.

Zeb suddenly grabbed the beast and held it down as it struggled in the net, "Stop moving around so much!" He demanded. Kanan extended an arm as he slowly walked up to the Frynock, he calmly rested a hand on it's forehead area, shut his eyes once more, and concentrated on compelling it to fall asleep.

All of a sudden, Kanan was pushed back by a sudden jolt, "Zeb! I need you to keep it still so I can focus," The Lasat continued to wrangle with the Frynock, "I'm trying! This thing is just really stro-woah!"

Without warning, the beast thrashed hard, tearing through the next, and pushing Zeb away.

Hera gasped from above, "Run!"

The rest of the crew more than happily did as told, scattering everywhere, they attempted to avoid and hide from the creature as it ran, like a rabid animal, through the circus tent.

Sabine ran as fast as she could, once she got behind a support beacon, she grabbed some bombs from her raincoat pocket, "I'm going to chase it out!" She shouted. Kanan and Zeb agreed, and Sabine hurriedly ran around the circus ring, dropping miracles on half of the circle.

Zeb had the creature chase him into the ring, everyone got back, and Sabine preses the botton to activate the bombs. Except the bombs didn't go off.

"What?!" Sabine shouted, "It isn't working!" Hera, still on her acrobat ring, which seemed like the best place to be at the time, looked down at what was happening. "Sabine get out of there!" Hera shouted.

Sabine began frantically pressing the button, "I know I can get it to work, I just-"

Suddenly, she screamed.

The Beast was running straight towards her, "Sabine get up here!" Hera shouted, Zeb and Kanan already on the platforms at the ends of the tighrope.

"That girl is going to get herself killed," Kanan muttered, "I'm going to bring her over here."

Before Kanan could get to Sabine, the creature rammed into a support beam, missing her when she dodged it's attack.

The wooden bean cracked upward, the monster backed away, it seemed amazed at it own strength.

Sabine, on the other hand, was frozen in place. Her mind tried to get her limbs to move, but the wouldn't, she kept thinking about if she didn't dodge the creature, that beam could have been her.

The crack on the beam reached its top, and it began to fall, "Run!" Zeb yelled. The girl finally got herself to move, and she did, Sabine ran as fast as she could, but the beam was coming down, and fast.

Sabine kept running, and was about to get crushed, when suddenly a black figure flashed by just as the beam fell with a big thud.

Then there was silence.

A huge cloud of dust filled the air, leaving everyone confused and coughing.

Hera, Zeb, and Kanan got down from the tightrope and aerial circle, no one said a word.

They hesitantly walked towards the fallen beam, not knowing if they wanted to see what was posibly there.

When they approached the beam, they were shocked at what they found, Sabine and the Frynock were gone.

“Where is it?” Zeb asked, glancing around the ring.

“Where’s Sabine?” Hera asked as she descended towards the ground, a worried tone in her voice.

Her question caused everyone to freeze, they all turned to face each other with fear.

“Y-You don’t think…”

Everyone turned towards a large rip in the tent wall, the wind caused the tested fabric to flap around.

“Sabine!” Hera yelled into the open air.

A loud roar echoed from the distance.

Meanwhile, in another area of the circus, Sabine slowly began waking up from the ground.

Pulling herself into a sitting position, Sabine rubbed her head with her hand. Looking around, she realized that she was in the tent where Kanan did his psychic act and predicted people's future.

How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was her miracles didn’t go off and then… The Creature!

Almost on cue, the Fyrnock appeared in front of her. Slowly walking out of the shadows towards the frightened girl.

Without taking her eyes off the beast, Sabine reached a hand into her pocket to pull out a miracle. However, the motion caused something else to fall out of her pocket.

The Elixir!

Sabine looked down at the potion confused. She didn’t realize she had taken it with her.

A roar caused the girl to jump and she accidentally dropped the bottle to the floor. The glass bottle didn’t break as the Elixir rolled along the ground.

The Fyrnock chased after the bottle like a lothcat chasing a ball of yarn.

Sabine watched confused as the beast began trying to grab the Elixir in its massive claws. The small bottle slipped and fell to the floor every time.

“You… don’t seem like a monster,” the girl whispered to herself

Just then, a clap of thunder erupted from outside.

The Fyrnock was startled by the noise, it spun around towards the open air and roared back at the thunder.

Sabine was shocked when the creature moved until it stood in front of her… protecting her?

After the thunder resided away, the Fyrnock turned towards the young girl. It’s expression was a mixture of fear, concern and exhaustion.

As slowly as possible, Sabine extended her hand out towards the creature.

The Fyrnock growled at her gesture and tried to turn away.

“It’s okay.”

Growling lowly, the Fyrnock looked at Sabine with its black eyes, reflecting the girl as she looked straight back into its eyes.

After a few seconds, the creatures’ low growls silenced into small huffs, and turned back towards her. As the creature continued to calm down, it laid down on the ground just in front of Sabine.

Its bright black eyes slowly closed just as Sabine was about to rest her hand on its head.

Suddenly, a long silk rope appeared in the air and wrapped itself around the Fyrnocks neck like a snake before dragging the creature away from the girl.

Sabine recognized the rope from Hera's aerial silk performances.

Surprised, the girl turned towards the tent entrance and saw Kanan standing there with his arm extended.

“Get away from her!” Kanan shouted, as he more ropes appeared and flew towards the creature.

“Wait!” Sabine shouted towards the man but she couldn’t stop him in time.

More silk ropes wrapped around the Fyrnocks limbs and body, pinning it down to the floor. The creature hissed and whined as it fell to the ground, its strength from before appeared to be gone as it could barely fight against the tight restraints.

“Stop it! You’re gonna hurt him!” Sabine cried out.

"It's trying to kill you!" Zeb yelled, tugging on on some ropes in order to keep the creature still, "We're going to have to hurt him!"

Kanan and Hera grabbed onto a pair of ropes and pulled hard, The frynock whimpering in pain. Sabine rushed to the man, "Kanan! We can't hurt him!"

"It's the boy!"

Kanan's eyes widened in reaction to her statement, he suddenly turned to her with a confused expression "What?"

Sabine frantically nodded, "Yes! It's him! Please stop!" Kanan turned to Hera and Zeb, "Guys!"

Sabine relaxed for a moment, _"Good, they're going to stop hurting him,"_

"I think the beast got to Sabine!"

_"What?!"_

"No!" The girl shouted, she suddenly got a burst of frustration that took over her, she huffed. "Give me that!"

Grabbing the rope away from Kanan, to everyone's surprise, Sabine climbed on top of the Frynock.

"Sabine Wren, get down from there!" Hera yelled, "Don't you see we're trying to save you!?"

The girl knelt down and rubbed the creature's furry, and kind of soft, back. "You don't need to save me, I appreciate it, but it's not needed. You see, this Frynock, this Frynock is the boy."

From the ground, Zeb raised an eyebrow, "How much paint fume have you inhaled today?"

The artist rolled her eyes, "Ugh! Kanan, at least try to see it, 'connect with him,' or something, please!"

Kanan's eyes shut as he focused, letting go of his rope, and extending an arm to rest a hand on the dark creature's forehead area.

Suddenly, a clear image of the boy came to him, for a split second, a white flash of Kanan's hand resting on the boy's head, replacing the Frynock.

Kanan's hand was suddenly repelled off the creature's head, the psychic looked up to see Sabine and the Frynock's eyes staring at him expectantly, "Now do you see?"

"Yes," Kanan answered, Hera and Zeb dropped their ropes, Sabine got down, and they untied the Frynock boy, "I told you it was him," Sabine commented.

The rest of the crew gave a simultaneous sigh, "We know." She had reminded them five times already.

Once they successfully untied the creature, Hera and Zeb got him to calm down enough to take his Elixir, "There you go, little guy," Zeb stated as the Frynock drank, "Sorry we thought you were trying to hurt Sabine, we didn't know it was you."

As soon as the last drop of Elixir fell into the creature's mouth, the black color of the Fyrnocks eyes shrank until his eyes had a familiar pair of bright blue irises.

The creature then closed his eyes in concentration. Right before the crew's eyes, the large Fyrnock shrunk his figure back down into a young teenage boy.

The boy looked.

“Kid, you okay?”

Suddenly, electric blue eyes rolled into the back of the kids head and he slowly fell backwards.

“Whoa!” Sabine cried out, reaching out towards the kid.

Hera quickly stepped forward and caught the boy in her arms before he could fall to the ground.

“Is he okay?” Sabine asked

Hera gently brushed the boys bangs from his face to check on him, “Yeah, he’s just really tired,”

“I wouldn’t blame him,” Kanan replied, “Running around in the rain all night in that form,”

“We should get him to bed."

As they crew walked back to the trailers they realized something, "His dressing room got destroyed, what should we do?" Kanan asked.

Hera turned to Zeb, "Do you mind if he sleeps in your room, just for tonight?" "Not at all," Zeb replied.

Inside Zeb's trailer, the boy slept soundly, very much needing the rest he was within the depths of at the moment.

Though, his peaceful slumber wouldn't last for long, for he was slowly pulled out of his sleep.

The kid dragged his eyes open, only to jump at the sight of the rest of the misfit group staring down at him, concerned.

Slightly frightened, the once sleeping young human shuffled backwards where is back met the wall, "W-what's happening?"

Hera gave a soothing look, "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you, we just wanted to see if you were alright," she reassured.

Ezra relaxed himself a bit, something about Hera made him feel safe.

Ezra noticed the wraps around Hera's legs, "D-did I hurt you, or, anyone?" Hera looked down at her legs, realizing what he ment.

"Oh sweetheart no! You didn't hurt me, I just...fell, that's all." Ezra didn't know if she was telling the full truth, but he didn't want to start anything.

Kanan walked up to the boy and knelt down, getting to eye level, "We can talk about everyone else later, we just need to know you're okay."

The kid was shocked, no one had ever asked if he was okay since his parents, "Yeah, I-I'm fine, thank you."

Kanan gave a little smile, "Good," getting up, the rest if the crew began to head out, when the man reached the door, he paused momentarily, "If you need anything, just tell us, alright?"

"Alright."

Ezra was woken up by the sound of shouting coming from outside the trailer.

The boy slowly stepped out of bed and left the dressing room to investigate.

In an instant, Ezras’ eyes widened when he saw Thrawn was looking at his now demolished trailer, with the other performers standing just behind him.

“Look at This!” The Ringmaster shouted, gesturing to the destroyed trailer, “I spent good money for you and you idiots couldn’t handle the responsibility of keeping your things in order?!”

A memory suddenly appeared into Ezra's mind like a lightning flash.

Pain filled his body as Ezra tore his dressing room apart, desperately looking for his Elixir potion. His teeth sharpened and shifted into fangs, his nails grew into jagged claws, and his eyes were slowly turning pure black.

In a fit of anger, the half-beast boy threw his dresser against the wall, the furniture broke upon impact. An inhuman growl escaped his throat as he slashed his claws across the metal wall, leaving a deep jagged mark.

“Boy!”

Ezra was snapped out of his memory, and shrunk back when he realized Thrawn was staring straight at him with fury.

“Did you have something to do with this?!”

The boys’ hand began to shake in fear. He had been instructed to take an elixir once a night in order to prevent losing control, now he had broken that rule.

“I… I-”

“We left the door the animal cage door opened,” Sabine interrupted, “They were frightened by the storm and went on a rampage."

“It was our fault, Ringmaster,” Hera continued, bowing her head.

The boy looked at the group with shock, luckily Thrawn had turned away and missed his expression.

“Is this true?” The Chiss asked through his tightened jaw.

“Yes, Ringmaster,” Kanan answered with his usual stoic expression.

“In that case, your chores for the day will be doubled. Fix everything that’s broken first then I’ll give you your new tasks."

The group seemed visibly annoyed and upset but they kept quiet and nodded.

“As for you,” Thrawn then turned towards the youngest, “Just share a dressing room with one of the others until I can fix your old one.”

“Y-ye- yes, sir,” the boy stammered.

“Get out of my sight!” The ringmaster hissed at all of them.

The group immediately walked off to begin their chores, just as Thrawn made his way to his private quarters.

Meanwhile, Ezra stood shocked at what had just occurred.

Kanan was standing on top at the ladder, trying to fix a broken support beam. The man had a hammer in his hand and held three nails between his lips.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” A voice from below spoke up.

Looking down, Kanan saw the kid standing beside the bottom of the ladder, fidgeting his hands and looking confused.

Nodding, the psychic placed the hammer and nails onto the top step of the ladder before leaping down to the floor.

“What’s on your mind, kid?”

“Well, it’s just the boy began slowly, twiddling his fingers together, “I-I was just… just wanted…”

“Kid, I may be a mind reader but I can’t understand what you’re trying to say,” Kanan said, with a joking smile.

Ezra sighed before taking a deep breath, “Why… why would you guys take the blame for something I did?”

Kanan's face dropped with concern as he heard the boys’ question.

“I mean, it was all my fault. I destroyed everything and-"

Kanan raised his hand to interrupted, “I’m gonna stop you right there. What happened last night was. Or your fault, it was ours."

“We should never have taken that Elixir from you without thinking on what it could do to you."

Another concerned look came across the boys face, “Why did you do that, anyways?”

A sheepish look came across the psychics face.

“Well, we…okay, I thought that it was making you sick, and we thought we were helping if we took it from you. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best idea.”

The kid nodded, “That’s my fault too,” the boy shifted his eyes towards the ground, “I haven’t been completely honest with you guys.”

Kanan gently placed a hand on Ezra’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to talk about it now, we all have memories from our pasts we’d like to forget. You don’t have to tell us me now, you can tell us when you’re ready.”

“Besides,” the man then gestured his arm to another corner of the room.

Hera and Sabine were sweeping up the ground, while Zeb was placing heavy objects around the area.

“Us freaks gotta stick together.”

Just then, a loud roar erupted from nearby. The noise caused Zeb to jump in surprise, knocking a nearby pile of hay to fall onto the Lasat.

It was revealed that Chopper had once again hissed loudly into a megaphone.

Zeb growled at the animal while Sabine and Kanan laughed at his fear.

Kanan patted the kids shoulder as he laughed as well, “You’re one of us now, kid.”

The boy looked down for a moment before looking up again.

Just as Kanan was about to climb up the ladder again, another voice spoke up.

“It’s Ezra, my name is Ezra.”

* * *

That night, with the full moon hidden behind dark clouds, the circus performers made their way to bed.

Ezra was lying on the ground on Zebs room, lying on a small cot and sleeping bag.

The two performers were sharing a trailer until the Ringmaster fixed Ezras’. Until then, they were temporary roommates.

“You took your potion, right?” Zeb asked from his bed.

“Yes,” the boy answered.

“Every drop?”

“Good night, Zeb.”

The last grunted in response.

A few minutes later, Zeb's loud snoring gave away that he had fallen asleep.

With a sigh of content, Ezra folded his arms under his head and drifted away into a peaceful slumber.

Ezra opened his eyes to find himself in a kids bedroom.

There was a small bed in front of him with a child sleeping peacefully under the blankets. A small smile on his face and a familiar shade of blue hair.

“Oh no,” Ezra muttered to himself as he recognized the scene, and the child in front of him, “Not this again.”

Just then, a loud creaking noise came appeared from behind the teenager, and a white light filled the room.

Turning on his heel, Ezra saw a tall silhouette standing in the doorway. An unfamiliar black shadow with sharp yellow eyes that stared down at the sleeping child.

“You again,” Ezra growled at the shadow, “Why won’t you just leave me alone!”

The shadow didn’t respond as it stepped forwards, walking passed the teenager until he towered over the sleeping child.

“Stop!” Ezra yelled as the shadow reached down to the boy, even though he knew it was worthless, “Who are you?!”

“Who Are You?!”

A gasp escaped Ezra as he snapped awake, the boys’ body jolted into sitting position.

The boys began looking around the room, almost expecting to still find the shadow towering over him. Instead, he only saw the usual shadows of the night, and Zeb fast asleep on his bed.

After a few seconds, Ezra slowly took in a deep breath to calm his fear. Once his breathing was under control, the boy hugged his legs to his chest and leaned his head onto knees.

It was the same old dream, and always it ended the same way.

Always before he could see who was the shadow that haunted him.

**···**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Us freaks have to stick together."  
> One of my favorite lines from any show ever.  
> Well! That's it for this chapter! Stay tooned for the next one! (Which will most likely not take half as long as this one😂)  
> Love you guys! Stay safe, wear masks, social dustance.😷  
> "We have hope, hope that things will get better, and they will." -Hera Syndulla


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